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A national trend has surfaced in the wakeof the 1970's suburban construction wave:today's urban dweller has begun to seethat a city's central business district mustbe alive and vibrant in order for that cityto flourish. City Center DevelopmentCompany, the Fort Worth real estate firmbest known for its painstaking renovationof many of the city's historical downtownstructures, agrees with the premise thatdowntown is the geographic, symboliccenter of a community. In addition, whileskyscrapers and contemporary mid-riseoffice buildings certainly contribute todowntown commercial success, it is thecharming historical structure that embuesan area with character and diversity.When faced with the option of ignoring acity's decaying urban core in favor of thelow-priced, underbuilt suburbs, a companychoosing to embark upon a majorrenovation project has the opportunity tomake a substantial commitment to a city,both in terms of finance and of time. Almosta decade ago, City Center DevelopmentCompany made that commitmentin deciding to improve downtown FortWorth through preservation, rather thandemolition, of some of Texas' most importanthistorical buildings. In March of1978, City Center announced its plans torestore two square blocks centered on FortWorth's Main Street corridor. This announcementenabled the city to qualifyfor an Urban Action Development Grantin the sum of $3 million. Fort Worth usedthe grant to restore the original brick surfaceto Main Street, widen sidewalks,plant trees and flowers and install replicasof turn-of-the-century lampposts. TheMain Street Project, as it has come to beknown, not only served to preserve FortWorth's heritage, but actually spurred renewalof the city's decaying urban core.

During the late 1800's, Fort Worth was experiencinga transition from a rural frontiertown to a major urban center ofoil, cattle and commercial trade. MainStreet-as the hub of business activitywaspopulated in part by some of thecity's most prominent citizens. Oilmen,bankers, cattlemen and politicians methere on a regular basis, to build fortunes,choose leaders and shape the future ofFort Worth.Yet Main Street had another side, with itsfair share of boisterous cowboys androwdy saloons. Here was a place where

the ill-starred and infamous could losethemselves in the crowd. Legends such asGeorge Leroy Parker, Harry Longbaughand Harvey Logan (or Butch Cassidy, theSundance Kid and Kid Curry, as theywere better known) walked this street aslate as 1901, rubbing shoulders withdance-hall girls and refined ladies, cowpokesand cattlebarons. Sundance Squarewas named for this period in its colorfulhistory, because it was during this tumultuoustime-before and after the turnof the century-that most of the buildingsin Sundance Square were erected.The Sundance Square renovation projectoriginally consisted of twelve turn-of-thecenturybuildings facing Main Street. Theemphasis in Sundance Square was onadaptive re-use of historic buildings; as aresult, some structures were restoredbrick-by-brick, while others, because theywere structurally dangerous or simply uninteresting,were replaced with replicas,or by modern structures whose simplelines did not compete with the oldarchitecture.As research and subsequent constructionbegan to unfold, each of the restoredbuildings revealed secrets and historicalanecdotes all its own, as well as presentingspecial problems which required creativesolutions. The following paragraphstell the stories of four Sundance Squarestructures with interesting historicalsignificance.Knights of Pythias BuildingThe original Knights of Pythias Building,circa 1881, was the world's first Pythiantemple, and the only one dedicated by thefounder of the Order, Justus H. Rathbone.The two upper floors of the building weredestroyed by fire in 1901, but were redesignedand rebuilt later that year. Anadjoining annex was constructed in 1920.When restoration began, it was discoveredthat the third floor walls were beingpushed apart due to failure of the roofscissor trusses. Its stairway was saggingbecause of improper modifications madeto the building when the annex was constructedin 1920. These were corrected

and knee braces were placed against theadjacent Domino Building, to preventpossible racking of the Knights of PythiasBuilding in high winds. The originalstone work had weathered badly and was,25